How far you go as a parent to protect your child?

Would you go as far as taking their life in order to protect that child from slavery?

Morrison forces the reader to examine that choice in her magnum opus, Beloved. The novel, Morrison’s most acclaimed, was adapted into a film starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover and is often cited as a seminal work of American fiction from the post-World War II era.

Beloved tells the story of an escaped slave, Sethe, living in post-Civil War Ohio. She lives with her daughter, Denver, her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, and an enigmatic newcomer named Beloved. The three are attempting to reconcile the past horrors of slavery while dealing with their own trauma. A man named Paul D enters Sethe’s home, seeking companionship and fulfilling a physical need, while his relationships within the household face deep psychological scrutiny.

Morrison’s exquisite prose delves into the psychological trauma of American slavery, imbuing the story with a devastating impact that surpasses the usual graphic portrayals of this inhumane institution. Throughout its four decades in print, this novel has garnered significant critical attention, solidifying its place as a landmark in American literary history.

Beloved will not be my favorite Morrison novel. Sula still keeps that title, but Beloved is one of the most important novels I have ever read. It joins a list which includes Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, The Little Country by Charles de Lint, The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber, and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Morrison’s masterpiece will be a permanent fixture on my bookshelf, alongside those other aforementioned novels, a book I’ll revisit for the rest of my reading days.